PROMEROPS 289 Blue Crane - a bird seen at Stellenbosch Airfield, Namaqua Warbler - seen next to a stream on the 12 September 2011 (JW), a bird seen on the side dirt road between Bredasdorp and De Hoop, 21 of the R27 near Koeberg, 30 October 2011 (JCo), October 2011 (BV) a pair of birds with a chick seen on Meerendal Amethyst Sunbirds - a pair seen in a garden at Wine Farm outside Durbanville, 19 November Imhoff's Gift, Kommetjie, 28 November 2011 (PC) 2011 (EV), 2 birds seen flying over Oude Molen Southern Grey-headed Sparrow - a pair building eco village towards the south, 20 November a nest in a broken drainpipe at the back of the 2011 (IR), a flock of 35 seen over Westlake, homestead info centre, Cape Point Reserve, 26 heading south. 28 November 2011 (TH), about September 2011 (PC), a bird visiting a bird feeder 25 birds Blue Cranes flying South over the in Noordhoek, 2 October 2011 (THv), also a eastern end of Vergelegen Estate, 4 December report that the birds have been breeding in the 2011 (ME) garden of Afton Grove, Noordhoek for the past 6 Whiskered Tern - about 40 birds seen on years (CS) Clanwilliam Dam, 28 November 2011 (JM) Black-headed Weaver - a male seen at Zandvlei Sabine's Gull - a bird sitting on the dry mudflats at Nature Reserve, 12 September 2011 (DO) Seeberg Hide, 27 November 2011 (BV) Namaqua Dove - 3 or 4 birds seen between Capricorn Park and Strandfontein Sewage Works, COMBINING TWO PASSIONS 24 October 2011 (PR) Red-chested Cuckoo - a bird seen on Contreberg Tennis and Birdwatching are two of my farm outside Darling, 23 October 2011 (BC) passions. Usually they are mutually exclusive but I once observed a Crowned Eagle whilst Olive Woodpecker - a bird seen in a garden in playing tennis at Cintsa Mouth, and in Cape Fernwood, Newlands, 19 October 2011 (OS, SS) Town I have seen several other raptors such as Peregrine, Harrier Hawk, Goshawk, Rock OBSERVERS: Kestrel, Steppe Buzzard and Yellow-Billed Kite. Joan Ackroyd JA Frans-Hendrik Joubert FJ Dick Barnes DB Ann Koeslag AK In April 2011 I was due to take part in a Eric Barnes EB John Magner JM Veterans Inter-provincial TennisTournamentin Gielie Bester GB Jacques Malan JMa East London and I knew that a Lesser Black- Jacques Botha JB James McFarlane JMc Backed Gull had been observed in the area. I Peter Braat PB Paul Meadows PM contacted Sean Peard and he confirmed that Mike Buckham MB Gerrie Meihuizen GM the bird had been seen the previous day at Patrick Cardwell PC Seth Musker SM Orient Beach. Our team had a bye and as Peter Cooper PC Anton Odendal AO team captain I could decide how the day Merle Chalton MC Dieter Oschadleus DO should be spent. I opted for a practice session Japie Claassen JCl Faansie Peacock FP in the morning and a rest in the afternoon, but Callan Cohen CC Clive Prior CP instead of resting I picked up Graham Winch James Cooper JCo Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk IR who had been my bird companion in East Brigid Crewe BC Barrie Rose BR London many years before. We had no luck at Mariana Delport MDe Peter Ryan PR Orient Beach so we went on to scan the rocks Eddie de Jager ED Otto Schmidt OS on the sea side of the Aquarium. After Felicity Ellmore FE Sandy Schmidt SS checking the legs of about 50 gulls we Max Ellwood ME Graham Searle GS eventually found the Lesser Black-Backed Gull Simon Fogarty SF Kevin Shaw KS with his yellow legs. With the sun behind me I Stella Fogarty StF Chris Spengler CS had brilliant views. Gill Ford GF Freddie Strauss FS It was great to do some quality birding and Mike Ford MF Johan Strauss JS get a lifer whilst on a tennis tour. Lisle Gwynn LG Mel Tripp MT John Graham JG Brian Vanderwalt BV Helm van Zijl Margaret Hardaker MH Wessel van Zyl WV Trevor Hardaker TH Ernie Visagie EV Please support our advertisers when planning Vernon Head VH John Watts JW your birding weekends and let us know of any Trygve Hvidsten THv good stopovers you can recommend. 15 February 2012 PROMEROPS 289 BIRDING IN THE KRUGER PARK A KRUGER PARK ODYSSEY Margie and I finally did a trip that we had discussed over the years which involved traversing the entire length of the Kruger National Park. Our prime objective was to see what birds we could locate, either by sight or sound, our target being one quarter of the listed southern African species. Our venture started at Biyamiti Bushveld Camp on 6 November 2011 and ended at the Wilderness Adventure's Pafuri Camp on 17 Barry Hawthorne November. On route we stayed at Lower Sabie, A Three-banded Courser on the nest Letaba, Shingwedzi and Sirheni. No doubt due to the extremely dry conditions, a number of birds which may be BIRDING IN ZIMBABWE regarded as common in the south and central areas of the park were rare or not seen at all. A WISH COME TRUE Double-banded Sandgrouse were a rarity and larks, apart from Sabota's, were spectacularly (Lucky) 13 August 2011 started as a normal absent. birding day, up early and on the road by 6.00 a.m. It was day four of a fifteen day birding trip to The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the Zimbabwe and Mozambique with Grahame time spent at the Pafuri Camp in the Makuleke Snow and Brian Vanderwalt. We had been given a Concession, one of the first areas in South Africa list of target birds for Seldomseen where we were to be the subject of a successful land claim. In this staying. On the list was Buff-spotted Flufftail and area, guests are taken on drives in open vehicles next to it I had written “I wish”. by highly knowledgeable guides and it is possible to leave the vehicles to investigate birds, The morning was spent in an area called Cecil vegetation etc. No doubt because of the dry Kop – not too hot, but lots of walking and some conditions, species such as the Lemon-breasted very rewarding birding. After lunch I decided to Canary and Carmine Bee-eaters had not yet relax and not go on the afternoon walk. arrived. Both species were common in the vicinity However, it didn't seem long before Simon in March of this year. This was compensated for by my husband was shaking me and saying “come an abundance of cuckoos, good views of Böhm's quickly, flufftail”. I thought he must be joking. Spinetail and the recently arrived Grey-headed Anyway, shoes on and bins in hand I rushed into and Woodland Kingfishers. the garden, down a leafy path that led to a lily The guides directed us to a site at the Luvuhu pond and spring, with lots of overgrown reeds and bridge where a pair of Black-throated Wattle-eyes ferns. By this time Bulawaysi our guide had joined were feeding chicks. They also showed us the us and he motioned me to sit as he started calling, nesting site of a pair of Three-banded Coursers, a then whispered “it's coming, it's coming, look, species we had not previously seen in South Africa. look”. I could see nothing, just gloomy Notable omissions from our list for this area were undergrowth and a carpet of dead leaves. Then indigobirds, Arnott's Chat, Thick-billed Cuckoo slowly, as my eyes adjusted, there was this tiny and Pel's Fishing Owl - one of the latter was seen bird within three metres of me, pecking the leaves near the picnic site whilst we were in the area. as it seemed to move in a circle and then disappear. Breathtaking. I just sat there In all we recorded 237 bird species (not quite mesmerized by this little flufftail who came back reaching our target) and had good views of all the again, did his little walk about and then major mammals except for Wild Dog. disappeared, only to keep returning. Despite temperatures of over forty degrees at The other half of our party soon arrived where times, the trip was highly successful and I was sitting. I quietly moved away so they could thoroughly enjoyable. enjoy the scene and went back to the house Barry & Margie Hawthorne where “Snowy” was preparing supper. I described February 2012 16 PROMEROPS 289 the scene to him and said I was going down again – this time Snowy came with me and again we called the flufftail who did his walk about for Graham. All ten of us had fantastic sightings of the male Buff-spotted Flufftail and several had glimpses of the female further back in the undergrowth. A truly memorable day and all made possible by our splendid guide Bulawaysi who had noticed a “slight movement” in the undergrowth. Otto Schmidt Stella Fogarty A coastal road along the Gulf of Oman Dubai. We contacted Neil and he was available TRAVELLING FURTHER AFIELD to take us out for the day on 8 October, our only full day. 05h30 seemed a very early start after an overnight flight from Hamburg and an evening out EXCITING BIRDING IN THE UNITED ARAB the previous day, but we did want to have the EMIRATES maximum birding time. By 05h15 we were on our In early October 2011 Sandy and I returned from way in Neil's vehicle with its essential excellent air- Germany on Emirates Airlines. The prospect of a conditioning 10-12 hour stint at Dubai International Airport We headed north into Sharjah and then east, waiting for our connecting flight was not very on excellent tarred highways, for about 90 appealing, so we had decided to book a two-night minutes, crossing into the adjacent small emirate stopover in Dubai, long enough we thought to of Fujairah to our first birding spot, the Fujairah give us a feel for this Middle East destination, National Dairy Farm.